


colour my world

by palad1n



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), College AU, Cuban Lance (Voltron), First Kiss, Gay Keith (Voltron), Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, M/M, Minor Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Minor Original Character(s), Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Slow Build, Soulmate AU, colourblind until they meet soulmate/can only see in soulmates eye colour au, keith works in a flower shop, lance is a tattoo artist, lots of fluff, they're pure ok
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 07:29:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14075904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/palad1n/pseuds/palad1n
Summary: "What did you see?""I-I'm not sure, it was on your beanie. It was in the sky."Pidge tilted their head in confusion."Was it an object? Like, a thing?" They asked."No, it was like, I was looking at it, and it changed. For a split second.""Oh my god," Pidge said after a moment."What?""Holy shit. Keith.""Pidge, what?""Do you think you saw colour?"





	1. chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> **some of the tags got messed up for some reason, i fixed them but if you notice something odd please let me know. thanks!

Keith sat behind the counter, his eyes lazily gazing over the bouquets that Pidge had placed behind the counter for pickup. He sighed, looking away. His eyes were drawn to the glass door at the front opening, the chime of the bell ringing throughout the shop. He forces a smile on his face as a lady approaches the counter. 

"Hi, uh, welcome, how may I help you?" He asked. 

The lady smiled. "I'm here to pick up a bouquet? It should be under the name Kim," 

He turned around, looking for the tag with her name on it. 

"It should be one of the pink and yellow ones," she added. 

Keith froze. The one time Pidge forgot to put the tags on. He felt his hands start to clam up. 

"I do believe this one is yours," called a voice from behind him. 

To his delight, Pidge emerged from the back room, holding a big bouquet of flowers. The woman paid for her flowers and left the store, smiling. 

He turned away from the register and towards Pidge. 

"You really saved my ass. Thanks," 

"Don't mention it. I couldn't let you hand her the wrong one, could I?" They laughed, punching Keith lightly on the arm. Keith glanced at the clock, looking at the time. 

"Time to call it quits," Keith said, turning off the lamp by the register and heading to the back room to grab his things. Pidge followed, chatting away. 

"So, Kogane, I was thinking we could grab some coffee on the way home. Pull an all-nighter. Celebrate the new year." 

Keith looked at them, a confused expression on his face. 

"We start class tomorrow, and you want to stay up all night? Don’t you have engineering physics at 9?" 

"Are you saying no?" 

Keith smirked. "Of course not," 

The two walked out of the store, locking it behind them. 

They went to the same high school and had been best friends for thirteen years. Pidge graduated two years early, in Keith's year. They were unbelievably smart, following in their brother's footsteps. Pidge and Keith's brothers were also best friends. The four practically grew up together, they were inseparable. 

That was until Matt and Shiro got into separate colleges, and had to move to opposite sides of the country. 

Pidge and Keith ended up going to the college that Shiro went to. He graduated a year before the two got accepted. 

Keith always hated school, but he went for Pidge. They insisted that he had to get a good education if he wants to go somewhere in life, but he couldn't really figure out what he wanted to do. He had always liked music and art, but art was immediately off the board for him. 

Keith had been colorblind his whole life, and it really messed him up. He was born with a rare case of cone monochromacy, or total colour blindness. He could see fairly fine. He needed reading glasses, but that was about it. His condition, however, really got in the way of things. 

After Keith graduated, Shiro's girlfriend offered him a job at her flower shop. At first, he was extremely confused. When Keith thought flower shop, he thought of arranging flowers per the customer's request. That required grouping colours. 

When he confronted her about it, she said Shiro had already told her. Allura wanted him to work the register and clean up. Allura was one of the nicest people Keith had ever met, so he knew he couldn't refuse. When she found out Keith's childhood friend Pidge was also moving in town for college, she asked if they would like to work at the shop. 

Allura's little shop was just getting started at the time, and she needed all the help she could get. The three quickly bonded. Being at the shop made Keith feel at home. He liked it there. 

Pidge and Keith turned the corner onto the street that their favourite diner was on. Keith liked walking this way because that meant he got to pass Shiro's tattoo shop. Shiro was talking about how he had hired a new guy a few days back. He sounded nice enough, from what Shiro had said. 

They crossed the street, approaching Shiro's shop. Keith considered paying him a visit if he was still working. 

To Keith's delight, the lights were still on. He reached out a gloved hand to grab the handle when his vision flashed. 

He saw something he'd never seen before. It was on Pidge's beanie. It was on a plant pot outside. It was in the sky. 

And as soon as it came, it was gone. 

"Kogane? Buddy? Keith, are you okay?" Pidge's voice interrupted his trance. He shook his head. 

"Yeah, I-I'm fine, I just need to sit down," he said. 

"Let's get you to the diner," 

The two walked into the quaint little building, a few doors down from Shiro's shop. The two sat down at a booth, saying brief hellos to the chef. 

"Now, you want to tell me what the fuck happened back there?" 

Keith was still in semi-panic mode, his breathing laboured. He looked into Pidge's concerned eyes and sighed. 

"I saw something. When I was passing Shiro's—" 

"Hey, guys!" Said a tall, brown-haired man approaching their table with a small notepad and a pencil. "What can I get for you?" 

"Hey, Hunk," Pidge said, "just two coffees for now. Thank you," 

Hunk was Pidge's friend. They had known each other through a friend for a while, and Pidge was ecstatic when they realised that Hunk lived in the town that they would be going to college. Keith liked Hunk. He was a funny guy. 

Hunk walked away, and as soon as he was out of earshot, Pidge turned back to him. 

"What did you see?" 

"I-I'm not sure, it was on your beanie. It was in the sky." 

Pidge tilted their head in confusion. 

"Was it an object? Like, a thing?" They asked. 

"No, it was like, I was looking at it, and it changed. For a split second." 

"Oh my god," Pidge said after a moment. 

"What?" 

"Holy shit. Keith." 

"Pidge, what?" 

"Do you think you saw colour?" 

 

 

Lance bounced his leg while he sat at his station, waiting for Shiro to finish up on his last customer. Today was his first day officially working with Shiro, doing tattoos. He had a ton of experience with the art, as he had been doing them since he was 16. He took a night class to get his license, and then trained with Shiro for a few months after he graduated. Today was his first day. He did one small tattoo on a girl's wrist for her eighteenth birthday. It was a small solid black dove. The girl said thank you about a thousand times. 

He loved making people happy. He'd even go as far as to say it was one of his passions. Doing tattoos for people made them happy, and that made him happy. 

Lance specialised in black-and-gray tattoos, and he rarely used colour. He would label all the ink, so he knew what was what, but usually booked customers who wanted full-colour tattoos with Shiro. 

He hated being colourblind. He loved doing tattoos. 

Those two things really, really contradicted each other. 

He told Shiro about this at the beginning of his internship. Shiro seemed shocked but dismissed it quickly. He told Lance that it was okay, and he could do whatever he was comfortable with. 

School for Lance was always pretty hard. He learned to get used to it, after a while. Just like how he would have to adjust to this job. And college. 

Class started tomorrow, and Lance was anxious to get back to his dorm and get some sleep. 

Suddenly, Shiro entered the room. 

"Hey, Lance, the last customer just left. I'm gonna close up shop, okay?" 

Lance nodded, standing up. He went to walk out when suddenly, something changed. It was like a flash, something quick. He noticed things. A rug on the floor. A pencil in a cup on the counter. 

He sat down quickly, rubbing his eyes. 

"Shiro?" Lance called, anxiousness in his voice. 

"Yes?" 

Lance stood up carefully, grabbing the same pencil that he noticed just a moment ago. 

"What colour is this pencil?" 

Shiro looked confused. 

"It's purple. Why?" He answered. 

"Purple..." Lance repeated. 

Shiro put a hand on Lance's shoulder, guiding him to a chair. 

"Lance, are you okay? You don’t seem yourself," 

He took a seat, gesturing for Lance to sit beside him. He did, looking at Shiro. 

"How likely would it be for me to see purple?" Lance asked suddenly, looking down at the pencil. Grey. 

"You were born colourblind, right? So not likely at all," 

Lance sighed. 

"I'm probably just tired. I'm gonna get going." He stood up when Shiro stopped him. 

"Let me drive you there. I'm worried about you." 

Lance didn't argue. 

 

 

Keith and Pidge made it back to their dorm at about 11, both very hyper due to all the caffeine. Keith was laughing and joking with them, but a silent worry sat at the back of his mind. What if he did see colour? Was this normal? After nineteen years of him not being able to see colour, he suddenly sees blue? 

Pidge told him that their beanie was blue shortly after they got into the diner. Coincidentally, the sky was blue also. But why? 

It was impossible. He couldn't just gain the ability to see something he hasn’t been his entire life, right? 

It wasn't possible. He couldn't. 

"Buddy," Pidge said from the opposite side of the room, "you've got your thinking face on. You still thinking 'bout what happened outside of Shiro's?" 

Keith shook his head, playing it off as if it were nothing. 

"Nah. I'm okay." 

Pidge smiled, then continued to type away on their computer. 

Pidge was majoring in aerospace engineering, and they were practically always on some type of technology. Keith was never too tech savvy, but he did know a little bit about that field, considering Pidge never stopped talking about it. 

Keith was majoring in botany. 

It was very unlike his character, as Pidge and Shiro had told him countless times. Keith was that one emo kid that people tended to avoid in high school. He didn't mind that, though. He had Pidge. 

Pidge wasn't sure what Keith was doing working in a flower shop. Sure, plants were interesting, but to someone like Keith? Unlikely. 

Keith wore a leather jacket almost every day of the week. He had more piercings than literally anyone pidge had ever seen. He had shoulder length curly black hair. And, to top it all off, he listened to what Pidge called 'gross emo music'. Keith insisted it was 'better than what they put on the radio nowadays', which made Pidge laugh. 

They were still confused as to why he was majoring in botany. Pidge supported him regardless. 

 

Keith and Pidge looked at each other from across the room. It was seven in the morning. 

"You wanna go to the diner?" Pidge asked. Keith nodded, not saying a word. 

The two made their way across campus, taking in the atmosphere. The sun had just risen, and everyone who was awake looked like they wanted to die. Pidge adjusted their large glasses and looked at Keith. 

"Dude, did you even brush your hair this morning?" 

"No, who do you think I am? Someone with dignity?" 

The two laughed as they made their way off campus, crossing roads and making their way to Hunk's diner. Hunk didn't own the diner, of course, he had class to attend. He worked there most weekends and weeknights. They just called it that because they couldn't remember the name. 

When they got inside, they ordered coffees and split a waffle. 

"Is that a new leather jacket, emo boy?" Pidge joked, sticking their tongue out at Keith. 

"Haha, very funny," Keith responded, rolling his eyes. 

They finished breakfast and started to walk back. The two split paths to get to their classes, saying goodbyes and good lucks. Keith put in his headphones, quietly humming along to blink-182. He chuckled at the thought of Pidge calling him emo boy. The insults would be worse if they heard what he was listening to. 

Keith entered a courtyard that he had to walk across to get to class and immediately felt a strange pull. He looked in the direction of said pull, and there stood a tall, Latino boy in a large hoodie. 

The boy turned around, and suddenly, the flash happened again. The same colour. Blue. 

Keith was seeing blue. 

He quickly looked away, his face slightly pink. He quickened his pace, trying to get to class quicker. 

Little did he know that the boy across the courtyard had just experienced the exact same flash. 

Lance looked away too, confused and wondering why he kept seeing that one shade. That colour. 

They both made their ways to class, walking in opposite directions. And the two boys had never been more terrified.


	2. chapter two

It had been a week since Keith had experienced his first colour flash. 

That what was Pidge had been calling it, so Keith somewhat picked up on it. They were the only one that he had told. He didn't even tell Shiro, which he felt slightly guilty for. At the same time, though, Keith had barely had the chance to talk to his brother the past week. His classes were now kicking into gear, and he was getting used to his schedules. 

Pidge was studying non-stop. Keith was pretty sure they'd already read through all their textbooks at least once, if not more. 

Looking across the room, Keith smiled at Pidge. They turned around, feeling his eyes on them. They laughed, smiling back at Keith. 

"What're you smiling at, Kogane?" They asked, turning their chair around. 

"I don't know," he replied, "a lot is wrong right now. But I feel happy. But also scared and confused." 

They stood up and walked over to where Keith sat, patting him on the back. 

"You sure you don't want to talk to Shiro about this whole colour flash thing? Are we sure you're even seeing colour?" 

Keith nodded. What he saw existed alongside the grayscale he was used to seeing, so it had to be colour. It had to be. 

Interrupting his thought, his phone began to buzz. Grabbing it, he hit the 'answer' button and held it up to his ear. 

"Hello?" 

"Hey, Keith." 

"Hey, Shiro," Keith said. 

"You've been a stranger this past week. You start college a week ago and soon enough you're too cool to talk to your own brother?" Keith could hear the sarcasm in his voice. He let out a small laugh, feeling a little bit of relief. He was glad Shiro wasn't upset at him. 

"Sorry, I've just been busy. Anyway, what's up?" Keith said, laying down. Pidge retreated to their desk. 

"I wanted to ask you," he began, "you started college, Allura's shop has almost been open for a year, and I just hired my first employee as an official shop. Lots of things worth celebrating," 

"I guess." 

"We were going to go out to dinner. By 'we' I mean me, Allura, and Lance. Lance is the new guy. Really talented. Super nice. We wanted to know if you and Pidge would like to tag along," 

"What restaurant are we going to?" Keith asked. 

"Again, lots of stuff happening, so I was thinking that really nice Italian place near the library?" 

Keith moved the phone away from his face and sat up. 

"Pidge, Shiro wants us to go to dinner at the nice Italian place off 3rd street. You in?" 

Pidge groaned. "Do I have to dress nice?" 

Keith held the phone back up to his ear. 

"Do we have to dress nice?" 

"Not too fancy, but no leather jacket. Put me on speaker." 

Keith obliged. 

"Pidge," Shiro said through the phone, "No beanie, and no old NASA hoodie that has a million ketchup stains on it," 

"Damn it, Shiro! You just eliminated half my wardrobe!" 

The three laughed. 

Suddenly, another voice was heard on Shiro's end. 

"Hey, who're you talking to?" 

"Just my brother and his friend. They're coming to dinner with us," 

"Oh, cool!" 

Flash. 

Pidge saw the look on Keith's face and took the phone from his hand. 

"When?" They asked, worriedly glancing toward him. 

"I was thinking tonight, meet there about six-thirty?" Shiro suggested. 

There was a pause. 

"...Lance, are you okay?" Shiro asked. "Hey, you guys, something's up with Lance. I'll see you tonight?" 

"Definitely." 

With that, they hung up the phone and practically slammed it on Keith's bedside table. 

"It happened again, didn't it?" 

He nodded, sitting up. His eyes widened. 

"It's here. It's still here and I can still see it." 

Pidge looked around. 

"Okay, Keith, I usually don’t say this a lot, but what the actual fuck are you saying? You're freaking me out!" 

All he had to do was utter out one simple word. 

"Blue." 

And Pidge understood. 

"So, you can see it? Still? It isn't going away?" 

Keith nodded, and suddenly, a smile formed. He stood up and grabbed Pidge by their shoulders, looking into their eyes. 

Keith began to look around. He took a quick glance out the window and suddenly jumped back. 

"Holy SHIT!" 

This continued on for about five more minutes. Keith had calmed down, and Pidge was sitting at their computer, typing away. 

"This makes no sense. You were born with total colourblindness, you wait nineteen years and all of a sudden you can see blue? And just blue? I'm pretty sure that isn't how it works," they said. 

Keith nodded. He was confused, and frankly, terrified. 

The two chatted for a while and decided that they weren't going to freak out too much. Maybe it would go away in a few days? 

"I can't believe we have to dress up," Pidge said, digging through their drawers to find something nice. 

Keith grabbed a button-up shirt and jeans. 

"No fair," they said from behind him, "You wear shit like that every day, Emo." 

Keith chuckled, grabbing some shoes. 

Most of Keith's clothes were black, and not just because it was what he preferred. He liked wearing black due to the fact that literally, all black clothes matched. That way, he didn’t have to worry about looking like an idiot when he went out. He smiled to himself when he thought about the time Pidge convinced him to buy a bright pink shirt by telling him it was a light grey. Shiro gave him shit about that for weeks. 

"Should I bring a jacket?" He asked. 

"Shiro said no leather jacket," 

Keith groaned. 

"What about that one flannel-hoodie thing I have?" 

"Well, are you trying to look like a 2007 scene boy?" Pidge retorted, smirking. 

Keith punched them in the arm. 

They finished getting ready and the two walked out of their dorm, Pidge pulling uncomfortably at the khakis that they found in the back of their drawer. 

"I hate not wearing shorts. This sucks." 

"Oh, come on, it's for Shiro. And Allura. They're like, the two nicest people and we can't say no to them." 

Pidge agreed, opening the door. A rush of cold wind blowing in their faces. 

"Winter is coming," said Pidge, stepping out into the cold. 

About ten minutes and a thousand complaints about the wind later, the two were at the restaurant. Looking around, he didn't see Shiro. 

"Hi!" Said the waitress, smiling at them. "How many?" 

Keith began to count on his fingers when Pidge interrupted, "five." 

"Right this way," 

The two got settled, and Keith couldn't help but look around. There was so much more to see. So much more to take in— 

"Keith!" 

"Hey, Shiro." 

Shiro opened his arms for a hug, and Keith reluctantly stood up and walked towards him. Keith hugged back, smiling at Allura from over Shiro's shoulder. 

"Hello, Keith. How is school treating you so far?" She said, smiling back. 

"It's alright, I guess," he responded, sitting down. 

Shiro and Allura got into their chairs when Keith noticed a third person. 

He looked up to meet the boy's eyes when he froze. 

This was probably the most attractive guy Keith had ever seen. He was tall, definitely taller than Keith, and his eyes were gorgeous. And they were blue. Keith was glad he had the opportunity to experience this. 

And then he noticed everyone staring. 

His face got hot, and he picked up his menu. He heard Lance laugh nervously and sit down. 

Pidge kicked his leg from under the table, laughing at him. 

"So, Lance, this is Pidge. They're majoring in aerospace engineering," Shiro said, gesturing to them. Pidge waved, smiling. 

"Hey, my buddy Hunk is also majoring in aerospace engineering! That's crazy!" 

Pidge's eyes lit up. "Really? I kept thinking I was seeing him in some of my classes, but then I just thought I was crazy!" 

Lance chuckled. "So, I'll take it you know him?" 

"Yeah, Keith here and I go to the diner he works at all the time. They make the best coffee." 

"The best," Lance agreed. 

"And, this is Keith, as Pidge previously mentioned." 

Lance smiled at Keith as he lowered his menu. 

"Hi," Keith said, trying to make the situation as normal as possible. 

Across the table, Lance looked like everything was fine. He wasn't acting awkward, he wasn't getting flustered, anything. Keith could stare at him all day— 

"You know, it's rude to stare," Lance joked, winking at Keith. 

Keith's eyes widened at that statement. He felt his face get red again and looked back down at his menu. The dinner continued in this fashion, with Keith envying Lance's ability to stay so calm. 

 

 

Lance was anything but calm. 

Keith was sitting there, three feet away from him at most, laughing and smiling, and occasionally glancing at Lance. He sat there, looking at his menu occasionally. 

Lance felt drawn to him. It was odd and indescribable, but not unpleasant. Keith then looked up at Lance, offering a small smile. It was then that he noticed the other boy's bright violet eyes. They were so deep and beautiful, and if Lance hadn't known he was bi before, he definitely knew now. 

Lance looked up when the waitress brought their food and almost jumped back in shock. 

There was something else. It wasn't purple. It was on the stripes on Pidge's shirt. It was on Shiro's jeans. Lance had an awestruck expression plastered on his face as he looked around. He noticed everything now. 

 

This definitely isn't normal. 

 

Keith ate in silence. He didn’t talk much, only answered questions and exchanged insults with Pidge. Nothing new. 

And then he looked up. Everything seemed a bit brighter, and Keith began to look around. He noticed it on Shiro's scar. On Pidge's cheeks. On the cloth napkins that rested in their laps. 

"Pidge," Keith said suddenly, dropping his fork. 

They looked at him, confused. 

"The napkin. What colour is it?" 

"Red." 

Keith picked up his napkin, looking at it with a slight smirk. Red. 

The dinner continued without much happening besides exchanging awkward glances with Lance and him taking in the fact that he was actually starting to see colour, which was kind of a big deal, but Keith decided to repress it. He didn't want to have a panic attack at dinner. 

Once they all finished, Shiro paid and they left. Keith began to walk with Pidge when a voice called out from behind them. 

"Hey, wait!" It was Lance. 

He approached them, smiling. "Can I walk back to the dorms with you guys? Hunk got tied up at work and can't pick me up," 

Pidge told him of course, and the three walked in silence. 

"I think Hunk's told me a little bit about you," They said, looking at Lance, "you're colourblind, too,?" 

That made Keith stop. 

"...Too?" said Lance, looking at Pidge. 

"Yeah, too. Keith here is colourblind. To a degree. Apparently lately he's been seeing blue—" 

"That's enough of that! Haha, wow, Pidge, you sure do talk a lot," Keith interrupted, saying the last part through gritted teeth. 

Pidge flinched and fell back a bit. Keith felt bad, but they really shouldn't have told this guy that they just met his business. 

"That's really weird, actually," Lance said. 

"I know, I don't really know what's happening, it's probably just— it's dumb. It’s whatever. I don't really care anyway." 

"No, I mean— I just recently started seeing colour. Purple, to be specific. It's kinda funny that we're in the same situation, don't you think?" 

Keith was beyond confused. 

How is it that in the same week, Keith starts seeing colour and meets some random guy that works for his brother that's going through the same thing? 

Something wasn't right. 

They continued walking in silence, Pidge cracking a joke or two at times. They got to the dorms and walked with Lance to his. 

Keith began to walk away, ready to go and sleep, when Lance stopped him. 

"Hey, you dropped this back there," he said with a smile. 

"...thanks," Keith said, taking the small crumpled up piece of paper from the taller boy's hand. 

"I'll see you soon?" Questioned Lance, calling after Keith as he walked. 

Keith paused for a moment. 

"Yeah. I'll see you soon." 

Keith turned the corner to get to the stairs and un-crumpled the paper. 

 

_don't be a stranger, keith_

_you seem cool and i want to be ur buddy, if that’s okay_

_here's my number if you ever wanna hang or something_

 

He smiled as he walked into his dorm, ignoring Pidge's questions. He was going to text Lance in the morning, he told himself. 

He was going to figure out why this boy was brought into his life, and he was going to find out why they were going through the same thing. 

He was going to find out if it killed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was gonna draw them all in their semi formal dinner outfits but i didnt get around to it, i'll probably link that next chapter  
> but yes! i hope you enjoyed!  
> lance and keith meet! hoo boy

**Author's Note:**

> wow, hi! welcome to the story!  
> this is gonna be a very fluffy slowburn, so buckle up kiddos!
> 
> **pidge uses they/them pronouns!!  
> **YES this is a cheesy cliche soulmate au


End file.
